Everyone that gets involved in a program has their own way of looking at things and some are very volatile and vocal in the way they think that program should be used and even go so far as to tell others the right and wrong way that they should be using it. Unless you are violating TOS it’s really none of their business how you choose to use any program. Not everyone has the same objective as them so they really don’t have the right to tell anyone what to do unless they are asked for advice, just thought I’d get that off my chest.

My Entrecard 10 dollar experiment is over and the results are below even though the click through was at 514 for 3 days I received more than that probably because so many were checking to see if they wanted my ad to run on their blog and decided since they were there they might as well click on my widget which was fine with me and made my traffic spike. I have no clue who might have rejected my ad and it really doesn’t matter to me. I cant do those campaigns very often, but it was an interesting experiment.

impressions 43507
cpm $0.2298
clicks 514
cpc $0.0195
ctr 0.0118

I really don’t think regular people other than Entrecard people even bother to click ads unless they see something that interests them. I would hate to see a get rich quick scheme catch someones attention on my widget though because I was a sucker many years ago before I got seasoned with what was going on. I made many mistakes and spent a lot of money I didn’t have because it sounded so good, but we all know if it sounds to good to be true then it usually is.

Almost everyone knew this was coming with the ads, but most didn’t really read up on the whys and why-nots and just assumed they would benefit from the new changes and they will if they decide to sell their ec’s back, I understood this from the start. I am concerned though because no mention has been made about filling out tax forms because they will have to issue 1099 misc forms if people get paid over 400 dollars a year.Perhaps they really haven’t delved that far yet and will make a cut off limit before anyone cashes out after a certain amount.

Who knows what the plan is maybe they really don’t know themselves yet and will change it as they go, but I really think they need to get a CPA and lawyer on board that will advise them of all the legal ramifications if they don’t follow the law. I’d hate to see them shut down before they even get started. I use my credits to back some contests because it gives me backlinks, but no one says they have to keep them after the contest.

I don’t advertise a lot with ec’s, but I do drop for credits and I’m not a speed dropper or whatever they call them. I leave comments, but not on every blog, but I try to read the post of the people I drop on some are of interest to me and some I just skim over especially if it’s long. If it’s just an advertisement I drop and skip right on pass unless it’s a blogger that I like then I’ll type a few words. I had accrued a few credits before I knew that Entrecard was going to buy them back.

I will sell some back, but it wont be a lot especially if the price is really low. I will use them further down the line for more contests and the market place. It really bothers me when people are spewing a lot of sour grapes because they don’t have any ec’s to sell and they think everyone else is evil because they have some and might make a couple of bucks. It is very sad how greedy money makes us and brings out the ugly that the ego tries to hide and cover with a smiley face, but we can see beyond that. I wish the best for us all.

Sundays’ Entrecard Post
I really appreciate the comments and everyone’s view points thanks so much for sharing them with me on the changes with Entrecard. I’m glad I tried out the new ad system because I certainly didn’t have time on Monday to do my regular drops or post and that certainly helped with traffic, I was surprised. Of course since I’m poor it certainly wont be a regular thing, it would be different if I was selling something. I hope the new system will eventually settle down and everyone will be happy again, I’m sure it will take some time though to sort it all out.

Taxes Are Done Finally
I had a horrible Monday only because it took me the whole day to figure out how to file my taxes and fill out all the forms, but at least I did get it accomplished so tomorrow they go in the mail. At least next year if I need to file a 1099 misc I’ll know how and I didn’t have to spend 200 bucks for H&R or buy a 100 dollar tax program for businesses. If I made lots of money that would be fine, but if you only make a couple 1,000 in a year it seems pointless. I’m sure they’ll let me know if I didn’t send them enough money. The mailman helped to make my Monday even worse.

Jury Duty
Guess who got a stupid questionnaire in the mail to fill out for jury duty? I don’t want to pull jury duty so I’m hoping they wont find me suitable. I have to go the beginning of May and I dread the thought of being put in the position to judge someones guilt or innocence. I hope it’s a case where I know the person so I can be dismissed. Not that I want someone I know to be the perpetrator or victim of a crime of course. Last year Bill was called, but since he has asthma his doctor wrote him a note an he was excused, some illnesses come in handy.

People are going nuts at the Entrecard forum because of all the new ads they are having to approve or reject and many are really ticked off because they aren’t getting a percentage for showing them on their widget. It took me quite a while to read all of the threads. I’m sure many don’t check the forums so you can go to your advert settings and click one of the options below:

Allow paid ads only if the ad is for a blog
Allow paid ads only if the ad is directed at your category
Allow paid ads only if explicitly approved by you

I don’t have any of those ticked off so therefore when I check there is a line of paid ads for me to approve which I have except one from myself. I thought I’d give it a try just so I can show support for the idea and see how it works.

Hopefully they will iron out all the kinks and be able to smooth all the ruffled feathers. I certainly would hate to see Entrecard fold so I hope this works out. I know what I pay a year for just my expenses so I can only imagine how much theirs would be.

Do you absolutely hate this new idea of sharing space on your Entrecard widget or are you like me and go with the flow? The majority that I approved were from the regular bloggers just taking advantage of the cheap exposure. I did notice if you put your cursor on the widget you can see if someone bought it down below the end will read type=paid.